Multiple sclerosis. A clinical study of 70 cases.

70 cases of multiple sclerosis were seen at the Department of Neurology of the Capital Hospital in 1949--1977. There were 25 males and 45 females averaging 30.6 years of age. The most frequent sites of the lesions based on the clinical symptomatology were the spinal cord and optic nerve, the cerebellum was much less frequently involved. The onset of the disease was acute or subacute in 63 cases. Remission and relapse were observed in 62 cases. There were 9 deaths. The survival times of these 9 cases after onset of illness was 1/4--4 years, 5 surviving less than 2 years. The clinical manifestations and pathologic findings noted in the present series support the opinion that optic neuromyelitis is but a variant of multiple sclerosis.